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CORNWALL — More than 150 residents have joined a petition calling on the city to address problems of sewage seeping into local basements.

Dozens of homes were flooded in early July after a heavy downpour, and it was a familiar sight for many who experienced sewer backups in the fall of 2010.

Council is expected to send the request to staff for solutions when they meet on Monday.

“I’m just trying to get them to look into what happened,” said Claude Jasmin, a Briarhill Avenue resident who initiated the petition.

He said it doesn’t make sense to solely blame the floods on rainfalls, as some homeowners have seen similar deluges in the last few decades that didn’t overflow into their basements. “I think it’s because the infrastructure is too small for the homes we have now,” said Jasmin, who hopes the city will install both sewer and stormwater pipes to add capacity in the area.

He said his next-door neighbour is selling his house as a result of the recent flood, as his insurance company is refusing to provide continued coverage.

“Mine is still up in the air,” he added. “I haven’t gotten confirmation that they’re going to reinsure me after this flood.”

He said other homeowners can only secure insurance for the upper levels of their homes, and some are worried about hits to property values.

The signatories all hail from Jasmin’s north-end neighbourhood, though residents in Riverdale and other areas of the city also filed complaints of flooding last month.

The blame has primarily fallen on the city, as those affected say officials had years to rectify problems in the sewer and water systems following the 2010 floods.

“In my opinion what happened ... is totally the city’s fault,” said Elgin Street homeowner Kinga Szydlowska shortly after the July incident. “During this almost three-year period they did nothing to prevent the current situation.”